Process of curing meat.



C'. B. TRESCOTT.

PROCESS 0F CURING MEAT.

APPLICATLON FILED Nov. 1s. 19:3.

Patented Apr. 6, 1935 Zwam am@ l u z 1' man sra l" @FFXCEQ 0F CHICAGG, ILLDWOS.

PROCESS 0F CURING MEAT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 6, Q.

Applicatienfled November 18,1913. Serial No.801,674.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES B. TREsooTT, a citizen of the `United States, residing at indianapolis, inthe county o f Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Curing Meat, of which the following is a specification.

My present invention,V which is in the nature -of an improvement on the process of curing meat set forth in Letters Patent of the United States, No. 1,016,656 granted to me February 6,1912, relates to an improvement in curing salted meats, with the primary object of effecting a -mild cure thereof whileemploying a strong pickle.

While my present process -is applicable with advantage to any of various kinds of salt meats, it will suce to explain herein its application to hams and bacon, more'particularly, and with reference to the usual practice of curing the same, which consists in holding them immersed in pickle until they are impregnated throughout the meat with salt and thoroughly cured. rllhe pickle may be of any desired strength. Full strength, or 100% pickle, is composed of about 2.6 lb/s. of saltto a gallon of water and contains more usually. a small proportion of saltpeter for its coloring and pre-` servative effect onl the neat, and sugar-in suitable proportion to modify the sharpness of the salt.` For ordinary curing the strength of the pickle is reduced to about 80% to 70%, though rarely much below 70%, since a lower percentage of salt than about 1% lbs.` to a-gallon of water produces avfmild pickle, which oftenacts too slowly to preserve the meat, meaningI to prevent souring or even' putrication thereof; and va strong pickle renders the meats-unpalatably salt. ll iind that by only partially salting the-meats in a comparatively strong pickle, of a strength, depending upon the thickness of the meat, of, say,` 65% to 95%, or thereabout-meaning. thereby, causing the salt to penetrate the meat only partway, as to the extent of one-third to one-half of its thickness-then taking it out of the pickle and immersing it in carbonio acid gas under 1close confinement, the supply of the salt in the meat will gradually distribute itself throughout the entire thickness thereof,

thereby'reducing its proportion to the quantity of the meat and eli'ectinga mild and thoroughly uniform cure. place while the meat is becoming impregnated wlth the carbonio acid gas, which suplplants the air in the meat, or renders harmless any air that may remain therein, and coperates with the salt topreserve the meat permanently, notwithstanding the mildness prises a tank or chamber 1 provided with a LES B. TRESCOTT, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOB TO HENRY L. MILLIS,

This cure takes Y removable door 2, lwhich isy thoroughly sealed in the use of the tank. rlhe tank is provided with a valve 3 on its upper end adapted to be opened for the escape of air. A drum 4 containing the supply of carbonio acid gas, and which is equipped with a reducing valve 5 anda pressure gage 6, is connected by a valved-pipe 7 with the chamber 1 near its lower end. At 8 is shown a vat for containing-the pickle in which the meat to be cured by my process is immersed.

When hams have been immersed in the pickle for a suitable llength of time, they are removed from the vat 8 and. introduced Ainto the chamber 1, the door of `which is thereupon hermetically sealed; and carbonio acid gas from the drum 4 is then admitted into the chamber until the latter is filled with the gas. lln this-chamber the salt in each ham gradually distributes itself throughout the meat, forming the supply for permeating the entire body thereof, so that if the quantity of salt taken from the pickle penetrates only, say, to one-half the thickness of ythe meat, one-half of that quantity of the salt will permeate the remainder' of the thickness, thereby lmildly curing the ham. While the salt-permeatlon is proceeding, the carbonio acid gas impregnates the meat and coperates with the salt inthe preservative effect of its curing propert lynx this connection, it Will be useful to state the results of some of my practical work incuring hams by my present process: A 2O lb. ham immersed in a 390% pickle for nearly twentydays, tookv up about 18%. of

the salt, which penetrated the meat to about one-third the thickness thereof. This ham,

subjected in the chamber 1 tol the gradual further permeation of the salt and the' action of the carbonic acid gas for a period of sixty days was found to have undergone a thorough.and uniform mild cure. A 12 lb.

ham immersed ina .75% pickle for. the same number of days took up about 16% of the salt, which penetrated to the same depth as that hereinbefore stated and was cured with the usame result by confinement in the chamber 1 for a period of thirty days; and an 8 lb. ham, of the so-called picnic variety, which is a shoulder, immersed in a 68% to 70% pickle Afornearly twenty days, took up l about 15% of the`salt and was held in 'the chamber 1 for a period of twenty days, with the same result. The foregoing tests were made employing about 5- gallons of pickle to 100 lbs. of meat.

It is a peculiar advantage of my improved process that there is no loss of meats, when originally sound, by imperfect curing which renders the meats liable to spoil by souring or becoming tainted; and meats cured by my 4process keep permanently/in perfectly sweet condition, notwithstanding the mildness of` the cure. 'n

'L finement and What I claim asnew and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. The process of curing meat, which consists in first plckling it in brine to impregnate it with salt throughout ya portion only retaining therein its natural juices, then removing the meat from the pickle andfimmersing it in the salt has. permeated the remainder of the thickness of the meat and the carbonic acid gas has penetrated .the same.

oHARLs B. rrREsCor'r.

GERALDINE NEVILLE, OTTIME C. AvIsUs.

arbonic acid gas under conholding it thus immersed untill 

